Jamie Raskin: Trump Has Crashed The Stock Market And The Justice System Since Taking OFfice

Forbes Breaking News

At a Congressional Democratic Oversight hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) slammed President Trump's record since taking office.

Transcript

00:00I now yield to my colleague, Mr. Raskin, for his opening statement, followed by Mr. Durbin.

00:05Well, thank you, Senator Schiff, for those moving remarks.

00:09And thank you, Ranking Member Durbin.

00:11Thank you both for working with us to hold this oversight hearing,

00:16which Republicans on neither side of the Capitol were willing to call.

00:23Special thanks to our witnesses today.

00:25Your bravery is inspiring to an anxious nation today.

00:30Even in the face of great pressure, each of you has stood tall and held fast to your oath to uphold the Constitution

00:37and the integrity of the legal profession.

00:40Just as the president has crashed the stock market with his illegal tariffs,

00:44he has crashed the justice system with his dreadful appointments and vindictive policies.

00:49He's filled the leadership of the Department of Justice with his personal lawyers,

00:54unapologetically extremist sycophants like Kash Patel and Ed Martin,

00:58who elevate their devotion to Trump over any semblance of fidelity to the Constitution,

01:04the rule of law, and the rules of professional responsibility.

01:08Our witnesses are people who have refused to bow down and be complicit in the way so many of our colleagues have been complicit.

01:14The president fires dozens of DOJ lawyers simply for doing their jobs and prosecuting the January 6th insurrectionists,

01:23who violently assaulted and wounded more than 140 of our police officers.

01:28The Republicans say nothing.

01:30The president issues executive orders banning disfavored lawyers and law firms from federal buildings,

01:35federal courthouses, federal employment, and federal security clearances unless they offer him blind loyalty

01:42and millions of dollars in free pro bono services for his pro malum causes.

01:48And the Republicans say nothing.

01:51Trump sacked 18 inspectors general who saved us $91 billion in actual waste, fraud, and abuse last year.

01:58His team gutted the Office of Public Integrity and suspended enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

02:05They withdrew prosecution of New York City Mayor Adams on serious bribery and corruption charges

02:11because he formed an alliance with Trump, causing seven top prosecutors to resign their offices,

02:17led by Danielle Sassoon, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District,

02:21who clerked for Justice Scalia and was an active member of the Federalist Society.

02:26Our GOP colleagues are silent about these scandalous offenses.

02:31But House Republicans are outspoken about this.

02:34Many are calling for impeachment of the judges who've rendered 56 preliminary injunctions

02:39or temporary restraining orders against this reign of fear and terror.

02:43The president and Elon Musk go online and call them radical left rogue judges,

02:48even Judge Boasberg, a pillar of the bar and chief judge of the D.C. District Court,

02:53who was first appointed to the bench by President Bush and was Justice Kavanaugh's roommate at Yale.

02:59We have only impeached 15 judges in the entire history of the United States,

03:03always for corruption offenses, bribery, tax evasion, habitual drunkenness,

03:10not even occasional drunkenness, habitual drunkenness,

03:13never for doctrinal disagreement with their rulings,

03:17much less when their rulings are manifestly correct.

03:22As Chief Justice Roberts put it a few weeks ago,

03:25the proper response to a decision you disagree with in the district court

03:29is to appeal the decision, not to impeach the judge.

03:34They're not making America great again,

03:36but they're definitely making the government corrupt again.

03:38We're grateful to you witnesses for having the courage

03:41to speak up against this outrageous corruption of our justice system

03:46as it came to affect you,

03:47and we're eager to hear your important stories.

03:50You will teach America how to stand tall.

03:53Ms. Hoyer, I understand the Deputy Attorney General

03:55tried to send armed marshals to your home at night

03:58to deliver a clear message not to speak to us at today's hearing,

04:02and yet I see you here today undaunted and unbowed,

04:07proving to Mr. Blanche and any other Trump official

04:09that you can't bully and silence everyone.

04:13That kind of courage is contagious,

04:15but we must emphasize to a watchful nation

04:17that courage is not the opposite of fear.

04:20Real courage, in fact, is experiencing all the fear,

04:24all the terror of these official threats and harassment,

04:28registering the fear of vigilante and online attacks,

04:31metabolizing the fear of your own government hounding you,

04:35but then pressing on anyway with conviction and passion

04:40for what you know to be right and lawful and just.

04:45Now, courage, which is a virtue, is not the opposite of fear,

04:48which is an emotion and, indeed, a necessary and adaptive emotion.

04:52Courage is a virtue, and it's the opposite of cowardice,

04:55which is a vice.

04:57The worst cowards are the tyrants and despots themselves

04:59who choose to terrify other people

05:02because they have allowed their own terrible fears and insecurities

05:06to turn them into monstrous, deformed, and cruel people.

05:11But the people who enable tyrants and despots,

05:14who do their bidding and work their will and flatter them

05:18and bow and scrape before them,

05:20they are cowards too, undoubtedly,

05:22at least if they have any choice in the matter.

05:25Every authoritarian regime runs on lies and runs on fear.

05:28Every authoritarian regime fears the truth

05:30and fears people who act justly and defiantly based on the truth.

05:36And that means they fear people like you

05:39and what you have to say to your fellow citizens.

05:42Thank you for recognizing the fear of this moment,

05:44feeling it, and nonetheless deciding to go ahead

05:47and act with courage and composure

05:50against the tyrant and his accomplices.

05:52I yield back to my very good friend, Senator Schiff.

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